Follow You Home
by SureFireWinners
Summary: Emmalina hopes to find her older brother Emmet Cole along with his wife and son. Brielle and Lena later join to find Russ. While on the Boiuna, many secrets emerge out that may threaten to tear the Landry and Cole families apart. Kurt/OC/Russ Jonas/OC
1. El Colgado

"It'll hurt for a few minutes, but it'll be better, I promise," Lincoln Cole told the little boy in front of him as he bandaged up his arm. The little boy smiled up at him before running off to find his friends and continue playing. Lincoln smiled as he watched him run off before straightening up and turning around to see his aunt, Emmaline Cole, standing behind him. She had a knowing smile on her face and her hands on her hips.

"You like being a doctor?" She asked him and he nodded his head.

"I do. It helps people," He said as he glanced around the small village they had stopped to resupply in before they would continue on with the search for Emmet Cole, Lincoln's father and Emmalina's older brother. He had gone missing six months ago. After everyone had given up hope that they would find him, his beacon had gone off. Lincoln's mother, Tess, had put together a crew to go find him.

"Other jobs help people too," Emmalina pointed out to him.

"I save people's lives, Aunt Em," Lincoln said quietly and she nodded her head, understanding him. He started to say more, but the sound of a helicopter approaching the area stopped him and he glanced over to see it land. Out of the cockpit emerged Lena and Brielle Landry. Daughters of Russ Landry, a cameraman who had gone missing with Emmet. They were both blonde and blue eyed but Brielle was a lot more petite than Lena, and she had finer bone structure. The party walked forward to greet them.

"Lena, Brielle." Tess greeted them seriously, giving them a nod. Emmalina rolled her eyes at her sister-in-laws serious attitude and smiled at both the girls. Lincoln stepped forward and hugged both Lena and Brielle. Tess turned back to the group.

"Here we go, speech time," Emmalina muttered, pushing her dark, mahogany coloured hair off her shoulders and twisting it into a bun. She had the same deep blue eyes as her brother, with dark rings around the outside.

"Girls, I've already briefed everyone when we first set out and obviously you know why we're here." As Tess spoke to them, Emmalina watched the two. Lena tended to be more opinionated and outspoken, whereas Brielle was more quiet and watchful. Brielle glanced around, searching for the nearest free camera she could hide behind. Her father had always been behind the camera and she felt that's where she belonged as well.

"We want to help," Lena stated but Lincoln shook his head.

"There's nothing to help with," He told her.

"How could you not tell us Emmet's beacon went off?" Lena questioned. "If you can find Emmet, we can find our dad too. He was with him."

"Lena, the beacon was a dead end," Lincoln told her. "We don't even know where to look anymore," He added.

"Yes we do," Lena stated. "I know where the _Magus _is. We can find it, and they'll be there."

"Where is it?" Tess asked Lena.

"We're coming with you," She stated, determination in her green eyes. Tess sighed but nodded her head as she led the way back to the _Hopewell_. Once on the deck, Lincoln pulled out a map and led it across a table. Lena pulled out a GPS system and typed in something before pointing it out on the map.

"They'll be there," She said.

"Lena, there's nothing there," Lincoln said. "It's not on the map. All that's there is jungle, there's no river."

"I tracked the tide patterns. I had five different options, the other four didn't check out. But this one will," Lena explained. "That's the co-ordinates. That's where they'll be."

"There's nothing on the map. If it's not on the map it doesn't exist," Lincoln said. "There's no river for a boat to be on."

"They'll be there. They have to be. Emmet and our dad... they'll be there. We at least have to check, right?" She urged. "A boat doesn't just disappear."

Tess nodded. "All right. We'll go. Tell the rest of the crew," She said looking at Lincoln before Jahel spoke up from behind the group.

"_No. Esto es Boiuna. No podemos ir alli,_" She said quietly, fear in her voice.

Tess glanced at the girl before turning back to Lincoln. "Tell the crew we're going," Tess stated, ignoring Jahel's comment.

"Wait... What'd she say?" A.J. asked.

"She said 'it's the _Boiúna_and we shouldn't go there'," Lincoln translated.

"Why?" Clark asked.

"Does it matter why?" Tess asked, a little snappily. "We're going there and we're going to find Emmet," She stated.

"And our dad," Brielle said quietly, correcting Tess. That was the first time she had spoken since she had met up with the group.

"And anyone else on the expedition," Tess restated, not trying to single anyone out. Brielle gave her a long hard look before turning away. Emmalina shook her head before following the small blonde girl to the other side of the ship.

"Hey," she said and Brielle turned her blue eyes up to the older woman. "You okay? I know Tess can be a little... cold minded." Brielle shrugged her shoulders in response.

"She's just trying to find her husband," she said, her voice even. Emmalina raised her eyebrows.

"And I'm just trying to help, so are you but that doesn't seem to matter," she said before sighing. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since you were about eleven." Brielle smiled at her.

"You seemed so scary when I was little," she admitted, a little giggle exiting her lips. Emmalina raised her eyebrows.

"Me? Scary?" Emmalina paused and smiled. "I remember the first time your dad taught you how to use a camera, actually," she said, smiling fondly at the memory. Brielle smiled in return before falling quiet. She just had to find her father.

"You guys found the beacon?" Brielle asked glancing up at her.

Emmalina nodded her head. "Yeah... but it was a dead end, like Lincoln said. It was attached to a cage," She stated. Brielle glanced down, an odd look in her eyes, but Emmalina chose to ignore it and nodded. "We'll find them. Emmet and Russ and the rest of the crew. Don't worry Brie."

Brielle nodded her head and smiled up at the woman. "Thanks, Aunt Emma." Even though Emmalina wasn't related to either girl, Lena and Brielle still called her their aunt because she been there for them just like Emmet and Tess had, just as much as their own father. Emmalina gave a pained sort of expression when Brielle said 'aunt', but the younger girl didn't question it. And Emmalina quickly replaced it with an encouraging smile.

"No problem, sweetheart. Now, let's get onto the Zodiacs," She said as she motioned to the red rafts where the other members of the crew were loading up. Brielle nodded and weaved forward through the people. Emmalina watched her before glancing around. She saw Kurt, their security standing a little way away from the group, watching them. She walked over to him. Tess had hired him since the beacon had gone off but he had had little to do with the rest of the crew.

"Hey," she said, smiling up at him. He glanced down, his face completely devoid of emotion. "Well aren't you the friendly one," she joked.

"Friends are not what we are here for," he replied bluntly, his accent cutting through the air. Emmalina raised her eyebrows.

"And what exactly are we here for, then?" she asked.

"We are here to find your brother," he said pointedly. "That is what I'm being paid for." She studied him skeptically, not saying anything until her stare became obvious. "What?"

"Do you mean to say that if we weren't paying you, you wouldn't be here?"

"You are not paying me. He is," he replied harshly, indicating to Clark who was hauling something onto a boat. Emmalina's eyes flashed, and Kurt smirked at the emotion. "Are we done here?" he asked.

She simply nodded and walked away. She understood that he was security and the norm was for them to keep their distance but he didn't have to be rude. While it was true that Clark was paying, it was her and Tess who had organised for him to do so. She knew she would have to keep an eye on him. She shook her head before walking over to join the group at the edge of the boat. Everyone was climbing into the Zodiacs to ride it down the rest of the river where Lena and Brielle were telling them to go.

They only had two Zodiacs to ride, so the group had to be split up. In the one raft sat Sammy, Tess, Emmalina, Jahel and Emilio. The larger one held Kurt, Clark, A.J., Lincoln, Lena and Brielle. They followed the way the two girls had told them and found a smaller tributary off to the right of the main Amazon. Upon directing the Zodiacs into the smaller river, the sunlight slowly disappeared and could only be seen streaming through the tops of the trees. Brielle closed her eyes and enjoyed the cooler weather that came with the shade of the trees while Lena glanced at Lincoln.

"I expected for you to call when you found out his beacon went off..." She said quietly, glancing down at the floor of the raft.

Lincoln sighed. "I'm sorry... I got busy with school and things," He said. "I meant to call. I meant to call you both," He added glancing at Brielle who nodded and gave him a smile.

"So, what you do must be boring compared to what your father did," Clark commented, trying to get some rise out of the boy.

"Yeah well, that's the point. Science isn't a great big wonder anymore," Lincoln retorted. "Discoveries are made in the lab, not the jungle."

Brielle smiled at his answer before glancing out at the trees that surrounded them, then glanced down at the water. She watched small fish swim underneath the boat and she stuck her hand into the cool liquid, her fingertip grazing the surface. As they got further into the _Boiúna_, the trees overhead grew thicker and a dense fog rolled in over the water's surface, giving the area a cool, crisp feel. Out of the fog, bright blue dragonflies flew to greet the Zodiacs and Brielle smiled at the insects and the color. They were beautiful. One flew in front of Lincoln and hovered for a few moments, almost like it was staring him down before darting away from him and he couldn't help but smile at the creature.

"Okay, now that was pretty cool," He admitted out loud and Lena smiled at him before it was replaced by a serious expression as a ship came into their view.

It was old, rusted and stuck in the trees that grew on the bank and looked like it had been there for quite a while. On the side of the ship the words _Magus_ was written in big, dark paint and Brielle sat up straighter. This was it. Either Emmet was here or he wasn't, and she could only hope her father was with him. The Zodiacs got closer to the ship and pulled up to the side with a ladder. Lincoln climbed out of his raft and helped the girls up onto the deck with him. Once everyone was off of the rafts, Kurt began to tie them to the _Magus_to secure them and make sure they didn't float away.

"Emmet's gotta be on here," Tess said to the group before. "Em!" She shouted into the ship as she moved along to the side to get to the front. "Em!"

"Dad!" Lena shouted as she followed after Tess, but suddenly stopped when a loud noise could be heard from below deck. It sounded like something large was scraping against the metal sides of the ship.

"What was that?" Brielle asked as she glanced at Lincoln. He shook his head.

"I don't know..." He said turning to his mother. "Mom?"

"It's got to be Emmet," She said, a smile on her face. "Em!" She exclaimed before she moved to the entrance to the area below the ship. She flew down the small stairs and was greeted by pitch black darkness.

Suddenly the room was illuminated as the cameras came down with the others, the lights being turned on. Kurt and Lincoln also turned on their flashlights and Emmalina moved to the front of the group to stand by Tess.

"This boat is only so big, Tess... If we can't find him then he's not here," She said quietly, but Tess didn't want to listen to her.

"Em!" She shouted as she moved through the hallway and stopped when a noise greeted her. She glanced around, but no one had made it. Kurt stepped forward and picked up a metal bar that was lying on the ground before banging it against the metal of the ship. Almost instantly, something responded and banged from the other side of the wall. He banged twice, and it responded with two large bangs as well.

"It's coming from the Panic Room!" Tess exclaimed before moving down the hallway towards the room she had spoken off, not even thinking twice that it could be something else in that room other than Emmet.

Turns out, it wasn't Emmet or Russ; it was some shadow demon almost that attacked Lena and left her with a large gash in her leg. Thankfully, Lincoln was a doctor and was able to stitch her leg back up and she didn't die.

They figured out that Lena and Brielle had had communication with Emmet over his travels, and Tess wasn't happy about that. Lena showed the crew some tapes that Emmet had asked her to burn if something ever happened to him, but she thought it might help them in their search for him. And so they watched. The tapes were of Emmet and his crew performing... magic. It sounded crazy, but that was the only word for it. Emmet produced fire out of his hands, he walked on water, dragonflies followed his movements...it all seemed like something you would read out of a book but would never experience yourself. It all seemed so unreal, but it was happening.

The next few weeks they spent hitting and missing with locations on where Emmet could be. They hadn't found him, but Tess kept saying they were getting closer and closer to him and his whereabouts. Each time, there were small clues and hints that told them they were going in the right direction. They encountered spirit doll trees that tried to kill Tess. But with Lincoln's quick thinking, they dug up the mother of the lost girl and sent her into the river. The little girl's spirit released Tess and they headed back to the ship, grateful.

The most latest adventure they had all gone on had ended in everyone going blind, minus A.J. and the crew being attacked by the Morcego tribe. The Morcegos were a tribe in the Amazon who judged people and tested them to make sure they were there for true purposes. Eventually, Clark-after having been accidentally stabbed by Kurt-convinced the tribe it was all his fault and they should kill him and not the rest of the crew. His selfless sacrifice caused the Morcegos to realize they had pure hearts and they left the _Magus_crew alone. Shortly after, Lena, Kurt and A.J. returned with the bulbs from under the Sentido tree that could cure the blindness everyone had experienced.

Now, the crew was just going down the river, hoping to come up with anymore clues or hints that could lead them in the direction they needed to go. So far, nothing. And Emmalina and Tess were growing impatient, especially with Clark constantly having a camera in their face. After losing Sammy Kirsch to the shadow demon, Clark had to become a cameraman himself, even though he hated doing that because he was the producer. But, as the producer, he did what was best for the show.

He angled the camera down the river, the murky brown water swirling beneath its lens. A shadow fell over the part he was filming as Emmalina walked over to the railing. If Tess Cole was day, then Emmalina Cole was night. They were both fighting for a common cause but the ways they would go about doing it were completely different. Emmalina's thoughts cleared as she watched the river go by. She'd always loved the water and the Amazon, as dangerous and deadly as it was, was exactly the same. The boat rounded a corner and Emmalina glanced up, her eyes scanning the foliage as she thought she caught a movement. She quickly looked around the top of the _Magus_to see who was around.

"Clark!" she called and he immediately lowered the camera he had pointed at her. "Come down here a minute?" Clark made his way down to the lower point Emmalina was standing on, sensing something in her voice.

"What do you see, Lee?" Like most of the people he knew, he shortened her name.

"I'm not sure," she replied while her eyes continued to look at the vegetation on the river bank. "I thought I saw something move." Clark lowered his camera slightly again to raise his eyebrows at her.

"You thought you saw something move... We're in a jungle, Lee. Lots of things move," said Clark, rolling his eyes. Before Emmalina could defend herself, there was a deep voice from behind them.

"She is right," said Kurt, walking up to the edge of the boat. "I saw this 'something' move as well." Emmalina noticed his hand was resting on his gun. Clark rolled his eyes again, dramatically.

"I'm surrounded by crazy people," he said, right before the bushes thrashed just in front of his eyes.

"Tess! AJ!" he called. "Get down here!" As the boat went further around the bend in the river, a horrific image was painted.

A man hung from the tree, a rope around his neck, his feet kicking at the foliage around him. His efforts to get loose were what had alerted Emmalina to his presence at all. The rest of the crew emerged on the desk. Jahel's eyes were wide and fearful and she began muttering in Spanish the moment she saw him. Emmalina tore her eyes away from the sight for just a second to tune into Jahel's words. She'd learnt better than most that when the young Spanish girl was speaking, she usually had something useful to say. Emmalina couldn't quite understand the dialect but she caught the gist of it.

"The Hanging Man?" she said aloud, catching one particular phrase. The rest of the group looked around, surprised she'd spoken.

"Yes, we can see it's a hanging man," Clark said a little irritably. AJ sniggered beside him as Tess Lincoln, Brielle and Lena came up the stairs. Emmalina glared at him.

"No. El Colgado is the Hanging Man," she said, gesturing to Jahel. She nodded.

"The Condemned Man." Kurt's low voice once again backed up Emmalina's point. It was a little unsettling. As Lena came around to spot the body she gave a little cry.

"It's Jonas!" she yelled. No one recognized the name. "He was a cameraman on Emmet's crew. He's still alive! Get him down!" As she yelled this, Kurt moved to the front of the boat, lifting his gun and aiming it at the man in the tree. Lincoln was right behind him.

"What are you doing? He's still alive."

Kurt simply shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and continued to aim at Jonas. After a few seconds, he fired. The rope holding Jonas up snapped and he tumbled down through the trees and into the water. _That has to be a near impossible shot_ thought Emmalina, looking down at the bodyguard with respect. The boat surged down the Amazon, soon reaching Jonas who was floating on the water, slowly sinking. Kurt moved down to the lowest part of _The Magus_and pulled him out, hauling him up the stairs.

Brielle watched all of this with an expression of horror on her face. She recognized Jonas once he was closer; she'd met him once or twice. Lena had had more to do with him but from what Brielle could remember he was friendly. He didn't treat her like a little girl, or like Lena's younger sister. The curls that fell around his face were wet, sticking to his skin. Lincoln quickly pushed through, as the "medic", and Brielle watched curiously as he touched Jonas's pulse points.

"He's still alive but only just. We need to get him downstairs," he said, before Kurt bent over and picked him up and brought him down into the belly of the sip. He laid him on the table as Lincoln made a quick diagnosis.

"He has malaria," he said grimly. "And he'll die if we don't do something quickly." Brielle slipped in beside Lincoln, watching his hands move quickly.

"Do you need help with anything?" she asked quietly. She wasn't actually that shy but she tended to go unnoticed because she was quiet. Lena was the one everyone focused on because she was pushy and outspoken. What everyone didn't know was that she was just as driven to find her father.

"I don't know what to treat him with," Lincoln said, frowning as he pulled off Jonas's wet shirt. "I don't have the medicines I need here." There was a pause and he took a deep breath. "Brielle, can you watch that his temperature doesn't rise above 90 degrees." She nodded, taking a thermometer and moving over Jonas's body. His eyes flew open when she touched him.

"You need the sequoia tree." Kurt's deep voice cut across the babble in the room. Lincoln glanced up in surprise.

"Sequoia?" he asked, trying to do a million things at once and not pausing to think of its relevance.

"To make quinine. We need to treat his malaria immediately or he will die." He delivered this in an even, emotionless voice.

"Yeah, I know that, smart guy." However as Lincoln continued to scan the room he realised the bodyguard was right. "Okay people I need sequoia! Someone needs to go ashore and get it." An uncomfortable feeling ran through the room.

No one was eager to go ashore after the last incident with the Morcegos. Lincoln glanced at Kurt expectantly. Since he was the bodyguard, Lincoln figured he should be the one to go, but Kurt simply pulled out his knife and handed it to Lincoln. The blonde rolled his eyes before taking the knife from him. He turned back to Brielle and motioned to Jonas.

"Watch him, please." With that, he walked out of the cabin and up on deck to get the bark from the tree. Brielle stayed behind and sat in a chair beside Jonas to make sure nothing crazy happened to him and his breathing stayed normal. In a few moments, Lincoln returned and handed the strips of bark he had gathered to Kurt who began to make the Quinine. Brielle glanced over at Lincoln and noticed he had a cut on his hand from the previous activity.

"You cut yourself," Brielle commented and Lincoln shrugged it off.

"It's nothing," He said. "Kurt, I trust you can give the quinine to Jonas?" He said, a little tone of sarcasm is in his voice. The only answer he received was a blank look from Kurt before Lincoln turned around and headed out of the cabin. He found his mom in the upper deck in the wheelhouse of the ship, a map of the _Boiúna _spread out on the table, his aunt Emmalina standing beside her.

"We can't turn back," Tess told her sister-in-law, but Emmalina shook her head.

"Jonas won't make it if we don't. You saw the kid. We have to turn back and find a hospital," Emmalina said.

"That's wasting time we should be looking for Emmet," Tess stated as she straightened up.

"Mom, you can't risk Jonas' life for a hunch on where dad is," Lincoln said, speaking up and letting his presence be known. Tess turned to look at her son.

"Are you positive you can't treat Jonas on the ship?" She asked him and he nodded.

"Mom, he'll die out here. I can only stabilize him but I can't treat him. We have to get him to a hospital or he'll die," Jonas said and Tess sighed, not happy about this.

"If we turn back, it's one week we lose in trying to save your father," She pointed out to him, but Emmalina shook her head.

"If we save Jonas, it makes up for the time we lost," The woman said. "He was with Emmet, he can tell us where Emmet was going, what he was planning on doing."

"Seconds count here," Tess said. "Right? I mean if we had been one minute later finding Jonas he would be dead, right? One minute..." She sighed. "You're sure you can't treat him on board?" She asked.

"He'll die," Lincoln confirmed for her and Tess sighed again before picking up the walkie talkie and pressing the button to talk.

"Emilio, turn us around," The curly redhead said and Emilio's voice came back, okaying her request before they felt the ship turn. Lincoln gave his mother a reassuring smile, letting her know she was doing the right thing.

"We'll figure this out. I promise-" His words were cut off by a loud banging sound on the plexi-glass window of the ship. He glanced behind his mother's head to see a blood splatter on the clear covering. "What the..." His words trailed off as he crossed the room to the door of the wheelhouse and saw a black bird lying on the ground by the window. He curiously walked over to it and picked it up, noticing its neck was broken.

"What is it?" Emmalina asked as she followed after him.

"Its neck... it's broken," Lincoln told her as he dropped the bird. He glanced up at the sky to see tiny black dots quickly making their way towards the _Magus_. He cocked his head, curious until another bird dropped onto the deck beside him. He quickly ushered his family back inside the ship as thousands of black birds dropped fell from the sky.

Once they had stopped pounding onto the ship, Lena came up with a GPS pad in her hands while the others cleaned off the deck. "I think I know why the birds were falling. There's a storm coming our way. A pretty big one at that."

Tess nodded. "Okay, everyone you know the drill," She said.

"Battening down the proverbial hatches?" Clark asked as he filmed the scenes going on. Kurt rolled his eyes at the man.

"It's a boat; there are actual hatches," He corrected. While everyone went to do as instructed, Tess turned to her son.

"You think Jonas can toughen it out?" She asked him and Lincoln shrugged.

"He's gonna have to."

The crew scurried around, tying down absolutely everything they came across. The storm would ravage anything they left out. Emmalina frowned as she passed one of the many dead birds lying on the deck. Something wasn't right here. She watched as Lincoln quickly descended down into the belly of the _Magus._She watched him go before turning to secure the Zodiacs. As she turned, a large male body blocked her way. She glanced up to see Kurt's face. He looked down at her, his face as emotionless as always.

"Something is not right here," he told her, his accent making every word sound more harsh and serious than it actually was. Emmalina rolled her eyes and went to step around him.

"You don't say. After all, it's not every day a thousand birds fall out of the sky."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "It is the Condemned Man," he said. Emmalina frowned a little, before glancing down to where Jonas had disappeared to, to where Jonas was residing. "He is the one causing this."

"What—" she began to ask before a large wave hit the boat. She stumbled a little but Kurt grabbed her arm, holding her upright.

"I would be careful if I were you," he said, before moving away. Emmalina shook herself off, trying to get rid of the shivers the whole situation gave her.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was moving along the corridor. The boat was rocking even more down below. As he stumbled around a corner he bumped into someone. He pulled back, expecting it to be Jahel or AJ or anyone but the person he saw. Jonas was out of the medical room. He was swaying where he stood but his eyes were focused.

"Hey, there you are!" Lincoln said, frowning a little. "You shouldn't be wandering around, let's get you back."

"You're Lincoln," he stated and Lincoln nodded his head. "You're the guy who saved me?" Jonas asked, to which Lincoln nodded again. Jonas took an unsteady step forward and clapped his hand onto Lincoln's forearm. "Thank you doc."

Lincoln shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not really a doctor. Not yet anyway..." he said, trailing off uncertainly as he realised if he didn't ever get off the river, he would never be able to fulfil his dreams."

"I know what you are, Chicago," said Jonas, rolling his eyes. "Your dad was always bigging up his kid at med school. Top of his class. Wasting his talents in a windowless lab." He said the last part in imitation of Lincoln's father, causing the other man to press his lips together. Jonas took a deep breath in and glanced around. "What happened here? This place looks how I feel," he said with the faintest hint of a grin.

"And how do you feel?" Lincoln asked quickly. Jonas's eyes continued to dart around the boat before looking back at him.

"Malaria-ish" he said and Lincoln rolled his eyes. He was just about to ask him something when a small blonde girl stepped around the corner. His first thought was Lena but as his eyes adjusted, he saw it was Brielle.

"Hi Brielle," Lincoln said, giving her a quick smile. She smiled back before glancing at Jonas. He turned to her, grinning.

"And you must be the beautiful angel that saved me from my deathbed." Lincoln snorted at the comment from Jonas as Brielle raised her eyebrows, her cheeks colouring slightly.

"Can't say I am sorry to disappoint you," She said, and Jonas gave her a grin.

"I don't disappoint easily," he said. Lincoln couldn't believe what was happening. Brielle was like a little sister to him, and here was Jonas, only _just _recovered and he was already flirting with her. He made a noise at the back of his throat and the other two glanced up at him.

"Jonas, you're lucky to be alive," he began, before taking another deep breath. "But what the hell happened here? How did the ship end up like this?" His questions tumbled out urgently and Jonas narrowed his eyes.

"What story do you wanna hear?" he asked cautiously, and both Brielle and Lincoln frowned.

"There's more than one?" she asked a tad suspiciously. Jonas shrugged again.

"I could lie to you," he said.

"Why would you do that?" Lincoln asked. Before Jonas could reply, he cut over himself. "Hey, what have you seen out there?"

"What have _you_seen?" Jonas repeated. All traces of the grin had vanished. "I know that look man," he said, indicating to Lincoln's face. He turned slightly to Brielle, sensing she might be more understanding. "You're thinking 'what am I gonna say to my friends back home over drinks.'" He took a deep breath, his eyes turning to the ground. "Sometimes it's okay to lie. Sometimes it's your only choice. Morals have different compasses down here." Lincoln snorted again, thinking of Clark and his 'moral compass' the one where north was replaced with the show.

"What do you want me to tell you?" Jonas asked, meeting both Brielle and Lincoln's eyes. "That I got separated from the crew? That I got lost in the jungle? That I was sick? That suicide was my _only_way out? Because that's what makes sense. That's what you want to hear." Brielle started forward, shocked at what he was saying.

"Is that what happened?" she asked, her voice lowered, just as Lincoln asked "is that the truth?"

"The truth?" Jonas hesitated as if he were considering what he was about to say. "I don't remember how I got lost. Or when. Which scares me even more." There was a deathly silence among them before Lincoln ran a hand through his hair.

"I should get back up there and help them," he said before climbing up the ladder quickly. Jonas turned to Brielle.

"You really don't remember anything? Anything about Emmet, anything about... my dad?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper as she looked down. Jonas frowned and stepped forward, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

"If it comes back to me, you'll be the first to know," he said before moving around her and slowly making his way back to the room where he'd come from, but she stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm.

"Maybe you should come up on deck, to see everyone. Maybe you can help them?" She asked and Jonas hesitated before nodding his head and allowing her to lead the way up to the wheelhouse of the ship. Once they were up, everyone turned towards the noise. Lena smiled and stepped forward to hug Jonas, glad he was feeling better. Jonas gave a weak smile to everyone gathered up on deck as he stepped back. Tess immediately stepped forward, wanting information.

Brielle held up a hand to her. "He doesn't know anything, or remember for that matter," She said as Jonas glanced around.

"So where is Emmet? And Rabbit and Manny?" Jonas asked. "Where is everyone?" He paused by the downcast expressions on everyone's face. "What is it? What did I say?"

"Emmet... the crew... they disappeared," Lena explained to him.

"Everyone?" He asked and glanced at Lena and Brielle. "Your dad too, Russ?" Lena and Brielle glanced down, and Tess stepped forward.

"Jonas. Emmet's tapes show you were the first to get separated from the group, but that was months ago."

"Months?" Jonas asked. "I've been out here for months?" He scoffed and shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. "I guess somewhere after eating your one thousandth earthworm it all starts to blend together."

"Jonas, I need you to help me. We need you to tell us all that you can about what Emmet was doing out here," Tess said.

"I told you, he doesn't remember anything," Brielle said speaking up, but Tess brushed her off with a wave of her hand. "Where he was headed... anything at all."

"Mom... Jonas doesn't remember much," Lincoln said quietly, hoping his mother would understand not to pressure the boy.

"I wasn't exactly inner circle," Jonas said. "I mean, Emmet talked about magic, tribes, legends that were real... never anything specifics though. He was cagey... You've seen his journal," He said motioning to the paperback notebook that was lying on the table. "It's all in code. I mean, all he told us was that we were on a path. Now, I don't know what that is, and I'm not sure how much I can help you," He told Tess. He gave an apologetic look that he couldn't be more helpful to her on her quest for her husband. He glanced at Lincoln, Emmalina, Brielle and Lena and gave them all the same look because they were missing someone as well.

"You must know something," Tess said and Brielle glanced at the older woman. She was pushing Jonas after he just recovered from being sick.

"I'm just the cameraman," Jonas replied quietly. Tess started to ask him another question that he likely wouldn't be able to answer, but Emilio's voice from outside on deck cut her off.

"Hey everybody! Come take a look at this!"

Tess glanced at everyone before walking outside to see what he was referring to. Out on the horizon, there was a large black cloud moving towards the ship. A buzzing noise accompanied it, but everyone brushed it aside. As Emmalina stared at the cloud, something about it seemed off to her. It seemed to be moving in thousands of different dots. She didn't understand, but it didn't look like any storm cloud she'd ever seen before. And it was moving way too fast for a normal storm cloud. Something was not right.

"The storm's coming," Tess commented.

"It's coming in fast," Lena added as she stepped up beside the woman as they watched the cloud move closer and closer to the ship with each passing millisecond.

"Uh, now it's coming in really fast," A.J. said as he held a camera up on his shoulder, filming the black moving cloud and as it got closer, the buzzing became louder.

"It's not a cloud!" Someone shouted, and Emmalina didn't register whom, but it didn't matter because the black, buzzing cloud had turned out to be a swarm of locusts that descended upon the _Magus_.

"Everybody get inside!" Lincoln shouted as he held up his hands and batted away at the bugs that attacked him.

Lena and Brielle screeched as bugs got caught in their hair as they both quickly rushed to climb below deck with the other member of the crew quickly behind them. Once down there, they found a room and closed all the doors, even going so far as to block off the vents with rags and cloths to keep the bugs out. A few bugs had gotten into the room, but not nearly as much as their were outside. They had all of the rooms in the ship sealed off, but if they needed anything outside they were all out of luck.

"Did you close off all the vents?" Kurt asked, making sure everything was secure.

"This is the last one," Lena replied as she stuffed a cloth through the slit of the metal.

"Okay, everyone stay calm," Lincoln addressed the group before turning a smashing a bug that was crawling up the wall. "The storm brought the bugs in with the headwind," He explained. "It'll pass," He added.

"And what if this isn't a normal storm?" Clark asked, his camera filming. "This all started when Jonas came aboard. What if he's causing it?"

Jonas stared at the British man for a few moments, trying to decide if he was serious. He couldn't tell so he decided sarcasm was the best way to go. "Yeah, because I control bugs." He hit the back of his own head lightly to get a bug out of his hair.

"Jahel says he's bad news," Clark explained, ignoring Jonas. "She says we better toss him overboard. Look, we've been on this river long enough. I don't know what's possible anymore all I know is that when that girl gets scared. I listen," He said. Tess frowned at his words, turning to Jahel.

"_Jahel, Por qué esta sucediendo?"_ Tess quickly asked the Spanish girl what was happening. Jahel shook her head fearfully. "_Dime"_ Tess pressed on. _"Qué está pasando?"_

_"Es él_." Jahel pointed a shaking finger at Jonas.

"It's him?" Emmalina asked, frowning, feeling like she must have missed something in translation.

"What?" Lincoln demanded, his tone sounding disbelieving. "Him? How can we blame one guy? How could this possibly be his fault?" he said, defending Jonas. However, before Jonas could say anything, he began coughing up blood. He went pale and his feet fell out from under him. He went to topple to the floor but before he hit it, Kurt caught him. Lincoln immediately went to his side, helping Kurt lower him to the ground.

"Watch his head. Watch his head!" Lincoln said, his voice raised. His hands went to Jona's wrists and neck, checking his pulse. Lincoln began swearing under his breath as Jonas began to have small seizures. "He's overdosing on Quinine, Kurt." Kurt had been the one responsible for Jonas's medication. "He needs oxygen now!" No-one knew what to do. Everyone looked on helplessly. Everything had happened so fast, the storm and now Jonas. "Someone, please oxygen" Lincoln yelled after her got no answer. Brielle watched Jonas lying on the ground, choking on his own blood as she ran some ideas of how to help him through her head. The answer soon came to her.

"The SCUBA gear," she said, under her breath. The only person near enough to hear her was Lena.

"The SCUBA gear!" Lena repeated, a lot louder than Brielle had said it. Lincoln paused to glance up at her.

"Great idea Lena, go and grab it please," he said, his tone urgent. He turned back to Jonas, feeling his pulse again and swearing as it dropped further.

"I need epinephrine and morphine." Kurt who was crouched beside the medical kit began searching through it. He extracted a syringe and handed it to Lincoln. Clark was circling the drama, his camera constantly focused on Jonas. Tess was watching out the window, at the approaching storm while Jahel huddled in the corner, speaking to her father rapidly in Spanish. Emmalina moved down to beside Lincoln. She'd never met Jonas before but no-one deserved to die.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked quietly. Lincoln spared a second to glance at her.

"Keep his head elevated," he said and Emmalina manoeuvred herself round to support his head.

"There is no morphine," Kurt said, as he continued to search through the pack.

Lincoln shook his head as he uncapped the syringe and glanced down at Jonas. "Sorry, this is really gonna suck," He said before plunging the needle into Jonas' chest where his heart was located. After a few moments, Jonas began to cough and gasp for air as Tess and Clark walked out of the room and into the hallway just as Lena walked in with the tank of oxygen from the scuba gear.

"I got it," Lena said and Lincoln nodded.

"Kurt, help me move Jonas onto the table," Lincoln said and the security guard moved forward and helped Lincoln pick Jonas up and place him onto the table in the kitchen. Lena started to sit down beside Jonas, but Lincoln shook his head. "I need you to help me. Brielle, sit." He motioned for the blonde girl to sit where Lena had been sitting. He set the oxygen tank down beside her and instructed her on what to do. She nodded her head before holding the mouth piece up to Jonas' mouth who had begun to come back to consciousness.

"Hey," Brielle said smiling down at him. "You're awake. You feeling better?" She asked him quietly while Lincoln and Lena moved around the kitchen, trying to clean it up. Lincoln walked past Jonas and he placed his hand on top of Brielle's and pulled the mouthpiece out.

"Thank you," He told Lincoln, his voice weak. Lincoln smiled.

"You're welcome," He said and Brielle moved to put the mouthpiece back into Jonas' mouth so he could gain the oxygen he needed.


	2. A Better Man

Jahel walked up to Lincoln, a pack of large cards in her hands. She fanned them out before holding them to Lincoln. "_El Boiúna habla a través de las tarjetas. Elige una."_

"What now?" Lincoln asked, a little annoyed. Jonas turned to Brielle.

"What's going on?" He asked her, pulling out the mouthpiece slightly. He didn't understand Spanish as well as some others.

"She wants him to pick a card," Brielle whispered to him.

"_Elige una._" Jahel pressed, needing him to pick one.

Lincoln sighed and took one of the cards out her hands. He flipped it around so he could see and on the card was a picture of a man hanging from a tree. On the bottom were the words '_El Colgado_'. He glanced at Jahel before showing her the card. "_El Colgado_?"

Jahel glanced at Jonas before shaking her head. She took the card back from Lincoln and slid it into the pack she held. She shuffled a little, mixing up the deck before fanning them out once again and holding the deck out Lincoln. "_Otra vez_." Pick again, she was saying.

Lincoln sighed before picking a card at random. Once he looked at it, it was the same card he had just picked. He shook his head, his eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Come on," He said, not believing what he had picked.

He showed it to Jahel, and she blew out a breath of annoyance before snatching the card from him. She placed the card she had taken from Lincoln and the deck she had already held onto the counter. She mixed up the deck, circling the cards around on the counter, before stepping back and motioned to it. Lincoln stepped forward and picked a card. When it was the same card he had picked two times previous, he grew annoyed. He laid the card down, face up before rummaging through the others. He wanted to make sure the deck wasn't made up entirely of _El Colgado_cards, and it wasn't. He ran a hand over his face and glanced at Jahel before following her gaze onto Jonas.

Jahel picked up the card and pointed to it. "The Hanging Man," She said, stuttering through the English words and before anyone could ask what that was, Kurt spoke up.

"I have heard of the Hanging Man before," He began, and everyone turned to glance at the security guard who was leaning against the wall. "My grandmother told me the story, she called him The 'Condemned Man'. He was a thief, a grave robber... stealing jewels from the dead. He was vain, greedy... arrogant. Death punished the thief, destroying all in her path until the Condemned Man felt the torment of dying but not the satisfaction of death. Not living or dead, trapped on the gallows forever," He said explaining the story.

Almost as if on cue, the buzzing of the bugs had stopped and was replaced by a roll of thunder that seemed to surround the ship. Jahel glanced up at the ceiling where the storm began to rage on above deck. "_La tormenta se acerca a Jonas._" Jahel glanced back at the cameraman before looking to Lincoln. "_El Boiúna lo quiere de vuelta. El Boiúna quiere que cuelgue._"

"What'd she say?" A.J. asked, wanting to know. Lincoln glanced at Jonas then back to A.J. not wanting to freak him out.

"She said 'The storm is coming for Jonas. The _Boiúna _wants him back. The _Boiúna_wants him to hang,'" He said then glanced at Jahel and started to ask her something, but Tess and Clark walked in with Jonas' cell phone.

"You all need to see this," Tess said. Kurt stood up and took the phone from her before sitting down at the counter as everyone gathered around him.

Brielle helped Jonas sit up and move to the booth against the wall while everyone watched the video on Jonas' cell. It showed Jonas filming along the Amazon briefly before speaking to the camera.

_"Sorry Emmet. I'm getting my Peabody,"_ the onscreen Jonas said.

He turned the phone's camera back to the jungle and watched as an older man sat down in the trees. All the people who were with him disappeared. The film shook as the camera moved along the ship, trying to get a better view. The man on the bank lifted his head and a tannish, iridescent cloud floated out of his mouth, before floating over to the cell phone. The screen blacked out and gave the option to play the video back as the people in the room looked at each other. The first to break the silence was Jahel.

"_Se robó el alma, que es un ladrón,_" she said urgently. Emmalina glanced at her before translating for the benefit of the non-Spanish speakers.

**"**He stole a soul; he's a thief," she intoned.

**"**_El Boiuna no se detendrá hasta que le vuelva,_" Jahel continued. "_Se nos matará a todos a por él."_

"The Boiuna won't stop until it gets him back," Emmalina said, pausing grimly before she added Jahel's last words. "It will kill us all to get him."

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Jonas protested weakly.

"He's right," Brielle said. Everyone seemed to look at her in surprise. "He was just doing his job" she finished softly. Clark ignored her words though.

"You stole my footage!" he said, his voice raised as he placed the camera down. He made his way over to Jonas and grabbed him. "There is something he doesn't want us to see," he said to the cameraman, his voice low and menacing. "Where is it?" Lincoln frowned at Clark's actions.

"Hey, come on!" he said, moving over to them. Clark however, pushed him back angrily and Kurt pulled Lincoln away from them, before a fight could break out.

"You stay out of this Lincoln." Clark put his face right up in Jonas's. "Where is it?"

"I don't have it!" Jonas said, trying to get him to believe him. Clark obviously didn't believe him.

"Where is it?" he yelled and Jonas, shrunk back, pulling a tape out of his shirt pocket and setting it on the table. Clark immediately shoved him back, to grab the tape and displayed it to the group. "We might want to take a look at this" he said, before stalking out of the room and down into the editing bay. The room looked at each other before everyone followed him.

Once everyone was inside the room, he pressed play. An image flickered up onto the monitor, showing the _Magus_, drenched in torrential rain. One of the camera woman, Rabbit, appeared to be being dragged off the deck of the ship.

_"The vine's—the vine's got me!_" she cried out on the tape. Another figured appeared in the screen, Emmet.

_"I warned you, Jonas!" _he yelled, his voice barely able to be heard above the rain. _**"**__You put all of our lives in danger."_The tape cut, flicking to another scene.

_"Emmet, please! Please don't!"_ The voice, while desperate, was still recognizable. The camera panned to show Jonas standing on the banks of the river. _"You can't leave me here, Emmet! You bastard!"_ he was yelling. _"Don't leave me!"_Emmet turned to the camera, his face blank. Emmalina frowned at her brother's lack of expression on the screen.

_"Turn it off, Russ,"_he said.

_"Emmet, please!"_ Jonas called but his voice sounded further away. The group watched the screen in horror as a vine swung down from the jungle and wrapped around Jonas's neck, lifting him into the air and up into the same position they'd initially found him in. _"NO!" _he screamed.

_"Turn it off!"_came Emmet's voice one last time, more angrily before the video cut to static. The room darkened as the screen turned black. Lincoln turned, apparently to go and confront Jonas but he was leaning against the doorway.

"You were hanging there this whole time?" Lincoln asked, his voice full of disbelief.

"All I remember is pain. You can't even imagine how much I just wanted it to end... I prayed for..." He shook his head, regaining his composure back. "Look, I don't deserve this."

"Emmet threw you off the ship!" Clark snapped and Jonas glanced at Lincoln then to Brielle, the only two he had talked to earlier today.

"I told you, sometimes it's better to lie," He said quietly, hoping they understood why he had done what he did.

Before anyone could comment, a wave hit the side of the ship, throwing everyone off balance. Jonas took that as his opportunity to run. He quickly rushed down the hall, trying to get away from everyone, or at least to a more secure location. They were all angry with him for lying to them, but he had done it to protect himself. Kurt quickly was out of the room in an instant, following Jonas up on deck. He cut Jonas off and slammed him against the wall underneath the overhang beside the wheelhouse.

"Hey! Hey! Stop!" Lincoln shouted as he came above deck as well, the others behind him. "What are you doing to him?"

"The jungle wants him back, then we give him back," Kurt said, grabbing a fistful of Jonas' hair and holding him against the wall in a type of lock.

"No, don't! You can't!" Lincoln stepped forward, but Kurt shoved him back before resuming his hold on Jonas. "What if it's just a storm, Kurt?"

"You saw what happened! You saw what he did!" Clark exclaimed as he filmed everything.

"You want anything to get the shot, right? You would've done the same thing!" Lincoln said, trying to find reason with this.

"Yeah, well I didn't," A.J. said.

"Are you really going to risk our lives for him? Your own mother? For him?" Clark questioned Lincoln angrily, trying to find a crack in Lincoln's hard resolution to defend Jonas.

"It's not about risking lives!" Brielle snapped, and Lincoln glanced at the youngest Landry girl, surprised by the outburst from her. She was always usually so quiet, but he knew that when she believed strongly in something she fought for it.

Another wave hit the ship, knocking everyone off balance, and Lincoln grabbed Jonas and pulled him away from Kurt. He pushed him inside the wheelhouse to a corner and stood in front of him so Kurt couldn't reach him. The lights began to flick all over the ship as the storm raged on outside, giving everyone an eerie feeling. Lincoln glanced around at everyone, letting them know how serious he was about keeping Jonas alive. Brielle, even though she had snapped earlier, was standing beside Lincoln and Jonas, scared of what might happen on this ship in the next few moments.

"None of us are perfect!" Lincoln shouted. "We're all arrogant, we're all greedy and we're all afraid! But we can't do this! We can't leave a man to die!"

"Lincoln's right," Emmalina said as she stood beside her sister-in-law.

"A.J., turn the camera off," Clark instructed, not wanting everyone to see that the crew just might send a man to his death. He was doing the exact same thing that Emmet had done, except Lincoln wasn't going to let him. Once Clark had set his own camera down, the blonde male reached across the counter/island and grabbed it. Clark tried to grab it back, but Lincoln already had it on his shoulder and filming.

"This is what you want, right?" Lincoln questioned as he pointed the camera at Clark. "Drama? Well, if you're going to send a man to his death you might as well get it on film!"

"You saw what Emmet did!" Clark exclaimed, trying to be reasonable and get his point across. "He's the captain and he couldn't solve this."

"Well, then he didn't try hard enough!" Emmalina snapped. She couldn't believe her brother would leave some kid to die, but he had. And she wasn't about to let that mistake happen twice. She would defend Jonas if she could.

"We have to try!" Brielle exclaimed, her soft voice cracking with a pleading edge to it. She didn't want to see anyone die. Ever.

"Jahel? Lena?" Lincoln asked, looking to his friends to back him up as well, but neither spoke, and Brielle stared at her sister in shock. Another wave hit the boat, and everyone held onto something to keep them upright. Lena glanced out at the raging storm then back at Lincoln.

"We just lost the mooring," She said.

"So that's four votes for tossing him," Clark said, interpreting her words.

"I didn't say that!" Lena said quickly, glaring at Clark.

"You didn't not say it either!" Clark told her and Lena fell silent, knowing this was true.

"This isn't a vote!" Lincoln shouted, his voice cracking on the edge, his emotions showing through on how panicked he was. "Mom, come on, please. They'll listen to you," He pleaded turning to look at his mother, begging her to understand. If he could just get her on his side, the others would leave Jonas alone. But his mother was quiet.

"It's not her decision," Clark stated and Tess turned to glare at him.

"Excuse me?" She questioned, but Clark slammed his fist down on the island.

"I'll play along with Captain Tess when I can, but this is not the time to indulge in vanity, all right!" He shouted.

"Jonas is our best hope for finding Emmet, Russ and the crew," Tess told him. Jonas stepped forward and nodded his head quickly, finding his way of safety and taking it.

"Yes! Yes, yeah, I can help! I can help you."

"Okay Jonas," Tess said, facing him square on. "You tell me what Emmet was doing here."

"He was looking for magic," said Jonas. Tess surveyed him.

"You told me that already, Jonas," Tess said, her voice taking on a warning tone. Jonas must have sensed it because he immediately tried to explain himself.

"No. Listen! He was obsessed with the idea that it all comes from one place. He wanted to find it. He called it the, uh-what'd he call it?-the Source. He called it the Source." All of this tumbled from Jonas's mouth in one big mess.

"The Source? What Source?" Tess asked, continuing her interrogation.

"The Source of Magic? I don't know," Jonas said. "Maybe he's looking for the Harry Potter books." Tess narrowed her eyes and took a step closer to him.

"Don't get smart with me. It is only by my good grace you're still alive. Show me where," she said, walking over to a map. Jonas followed and placed his finger uncertainly on it.

"Here," he began, before continuing with more conviction. "This is where he wanted to go, right here. That's all I know." Tess studied where his finger was, imprinting it to memory before nodding.

"That's all you know?" Clark asked.

"That's all I know, I swear," Jonas replied, not meeting their eyes. Whether it was because he was lying and he knew more or he just felt uncomfortable, it didn't change Tess's next actions.

"Get him off my ship," she ordered in an emotionless voice.

Lincoln shook his head. "We can't do this!" He exclaimed as he set the camera down on the island to face his mother. He couldn't believe she was going to do the same thing Emmet had done. It just wasn't right, and he stood by his beliefs.

"I'm not gonna risk your life, Lincoln," Tess said, holding onto the island and staring at her son, to let him know she was making a hard decision. "We could all die here. This is the choice." She glanced at Jonas. "I'm sorry, Jonas."

"No," Jonas said shaking his head. His tone basically said 'No. You're not sorry.'

"I am sorry," Tess said as she glanced at the younger man before looking to Lincoln. "But saving Emmet is more important than dying for Jonas."

"No please! Don't let them take me!" Jonas cried as the two men moved towards him.

Kurt pushed past Lincoln to get to Jonas and Clark walked behind Brielle. As Kurt passed by Lincoln, the blonde male reached forward and grabbed the gun from off of the security guard's hop holster. Kurt immediately turned around, feeling the gun slip out of its holder. He glared at Lincoln who pointed the gun at him. Everyone froze, their breaths held in anticipation. This was the type of thing no one wanted to happen. No one wanted to argue and have discord among the crew members, but that's what was happening.

Lincoln's hands shook as he held the gun, pointing it at Kurt. He had never pointed a gun at someone before and this all felt wrong to him. But he was doing what he had to do to do save another man's life. He couldn't let them leave Jonas to die. It was the same as pulling the trigger and sending a bullet through someone's skull. It was murder.

"We can't do this!" Lincoln exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly as he tried to plead with everyone, tried to find their reasonable side. "We can't be murderers! He made a mistake; he doesn't deserve to be tortured for it!"

"I don't like guns pointed at me, especially my own," Kurt replied, his voice calm and under control, leaving Emmalina wondering how he could be so poised under such a stressful situation.

She gazed at him, looking for a tell that he was just as scared as everyone else, but there was nothing-that she could see at least. His jaw was set in a soft line, not tight like everyone else's. HIs expression just seemed to be the bored one he always wore.

"We can't give into fear! Dad did, and I won't," Lincoln replied making his voice sound as determined and commanding as he possibly could. He had to get them to see reason, to see this wasn't the only option for them. They could save Jonas and save their humanity.

Brielle's lower lip quivered as she glanced from Lincoln to Kurt, watching and wondering how the standoff was going to play out. She hadn't wanted them to leave Jonas in the jungle because that was leaving him to die, and it wasn't right. They weren't murderers, but now a gun was being pointed at a member of the crew, and she was beginning to second guess the actions and thoughts she had had previous. She didn't want anyone getting hurt, and that's exactly where it looked like this was heading.

Another wave hit the ship. Kurt saw his chance and stepped forward to grab the gun off Lincoln, as he stumbled unsteadily. As he grabbed the barrel of the gun, he jolted it, causing Lincoln's finger to slip and hit the trigger. Brielle screamed out of fright, at the loud noise in the confined space. The gunpowder within the barrel caused the metal to heat up, burning Kurt. He stepped back, swearing as he held his injured hand close into himself. Through all this confusion, Jonas began to move. Brielle watched him.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, looking right at her, and amidst the confusion, she would have sworn she was the only one who had heard.

"Jonas, wait!" she called after him, her cry alerting the crew to Jonas's disappearance. Tess immediately honed in on him, concerned about other matters.

"Jonas! The phone!" She turned to the crew, addressing them as Brielle slipped past her, ignoring what she was saying. She understood she had to find her husband, but putting one life before another was too much. "Don't let him take the phone!" she told them. They surged outside, onto the deck, the boat tipping and rocking beneath them.

"Jonas!" Brielle called as she watched him helplessly. He climbed up to the highest part of the ship, clutching it so tightly his knuckles turned white. She tried calling his name again but the wind snatched her words away from her.

"This is all my fault!" he yelled down at her. "If this is what it takes, then I'll go back into the noose! I can't let anyone else die for me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He continued his ascending path, climbing the ladder that lead up the main part of the ship.

Brielle stared after him, lost as to what to do. She couldn't let Jonas kill himself, even if he was going to kill them all. She went to start after him, but muscled arms held her back. She turned angrily to meet to cold eyes of the German Bodyguard.

"Let me go," she said struggling in his arms but he shook his head.

"You cannot help him now."

Above, Jonas had pulled out the cell phone Tess so desperately coveted and smashed it against the pole. He let the fragments fall to the deck, the sound of their impact barely audible over the waves. Jonas reached the rope and Brielle redoubled her efforts to get free of Kurt's arms. it was hopeless. She was 5'1" and extremely petite whereas he was over 6'0" and muscled. Jonas lowered the rope around his neck and the vines tightened on their own.

Meanwhile, Tess had moved over to the cell phone, picking at the pieces angrily. The only clue she'd had to find her husband was gone. However, before she could do anything more, the same tannish substance that had left the man on the video's head floated out of the phone, dissipating into the air. She followed its path into the sky, watching as her eyes flicked over to Jonas's prone body. He hung still in midair, the vine attached to his neck for a few moments that seemed to stretch on for forever for Brielle and the rest of the crew. Then suddenly, he began to cough and gasp for air, and almost instantly the vine released Jonas and he plummeted to the deck.

Kurt let go of the blonde and she slid beside Jonas, helping him sit up as he coughed for air after having just had his air supply cut off for a few moments. "Jonas!" She called to him as she cradled his head in her lap. He opened his eyes after his coughing had calmed down, and Lincoln sighed in relief.

"He's breathing. He's okay," Lincoln said. "Let's get him inside," He added as the storm raged on around them, the rain pelting onto the deck and soaking everyone.

Lincoln stood up, and helped pick Jonas up before allowing the cameraman to lean against him and Brielle as they helped him inside to one of the rooms. They laid him down on the bed in the room and Lena followed them in with a water bottle. She handed it to Lincoln who turned to Jonas and instructed him to drink him.

"I just almost drowned in all that rain outside, I think I'm hydrated," Jonas replied sarcastically. Brielle laughed, and Lincoln rolled his eyes, still holding the bottle of water out to him. When he made no motion to take it, Brielle removed it from Lincoln's grasp.

"I'll make sure he drinks it," She told him. Lincoln nodded his head.

"I'll be back to check on you in a few minutes. Drink at least some of the water," He said before exiting the room with Lena behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Brielle asked him as she sat on the edge of the bed beside him. She glanced down at the water bottle in her hands before her blue eyes flitted on to Jonas' own blue orbs. He shrugged.

"My vision's a little spotty still, but I'm sure that comes with not breathing for a while," He said in a joke, and Brielle smiled at him.

"Is it normal for you to joke around and act like you almost didn't die?" She asked him lightly, and he shrugged, but smiled.

"Why not make light of what didn't happen?" He asked, and she laughed softly. She glanced back down at the bottle of water in her hands before she unscrewed the top of it. "You're really not thirsty?" She asked, and he shook his head.

"Not at all."

She nodded before taking a few sips of the water until it was about a fourth finished. When she screwed the lid back on, Jonas gave her a questioning look. "What? You're not thirsty, and Lincoln said the water needed to be gone. I'm just saving your ass from a lecture," She told him as she set the bottle down on a small table beside the bed.

"You really are the angel that saved me," He told her with a teasing wink. She felt her cheeks heat up as she stood up.

"Get some rest," She said before passing by Lincoln on her way out of the room.

"The water will help," Brielle heard Lincoln say before she was out of earshot.

A small smirk graced her lips as she made her way back up on deck. The storm had calmed down, and the rain was only a light drizzle now, not the heavy downpour it had been earlier. She cautiously made her way over to the railing, careful to not slip on the wet deck of the ship. She held onto the metal railing and gazed up at the night sky. Where her father was, she hoped he was staring at the same stars and moon she was. Despite them not knowing where he was, it seemed to calm her if she thought was looking at the same things she was. Like, he was there with her.

She smiled as she fiddled with a silver chain her father had given her when she was about seven. He said it had come from a local village, authentic tribal jewelry. But when she was older, she had found the exact same necklace in some shop in Colorado on one of their visits back home during the break of the show. She had pointed it out to him, and he had laughed that his secret had been found out. But she still wore it. It was a joke between the two now whenever they found anything that closely resembled it.

Her fingers slid over the smooth surface of the stone set in the middle of the silver metal. The stone was an amber-color, with oranges and yellows swirling throughout the gem. Silver wisps and points surrounded the stone in various lengths and widths, appearing like a sun charm. Stars, suns and moons had always been a fascination of hers. She had always been intrigued by them and could often be found on the deck of the _Magus_drawing them in a notepad she always carried with her when she was little. But ever since her father had given her that necklace, the sun had been her favorite celestial body.

She gasped softly as a falling star streaked across the night sky, lighting up the dark night. She closed her eyes, and her lips moved, her voice coming out in a soft whisper. "Wherever you are, daddy, please be safe. We'll find you." She reopened her eyes, her wish on a falling star having been made. She stepped back from the deck, being careful not to slip before making her way down below deck to get some well-needed rest.

Despite having some close calls, no one had died tonight, and Jonas was safe. It was an upside and gave her new hope that they would find Emmet and her father, and everything would work out in their favor.

Emmalina stood above the blonde girl, ignoring the rain trickling down her face. She'd always loved any sort of water as a child and teenager. It was one of the reasons she'd wanted to come to find Emmet. The Amazon may be twisting and dangerous but it still held a powerful beauty in the way it moved.

She watched as Brielle ran her finger over some sort of necklace, before glancing up at the stars. Emmalina followed her gaze. She saw a shooting star. She made no wish. Once you get the thing you want and give it away, there's no getting it back. She continued to watch the stars for a moment before looking around her. Brielle had gone from below on the deck. She turned to walk of the upper deck, when someone blocked her way. She looked up, stepping away, to see the large silhouette of Kurt.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I could ask you the same thing," she retorted, shock making her snappy. She went to move past him again when he caught her arm, gently. The gesture surprised Emmalina. She wasn't entirely sure Kurt _could_be gentle.

"After all that's... happened," he began, a smirk flickering over his face. "A lone woman on the top of the ship isn't going to help." Emmalina rolled her eyes and yanked her arm out without saying another word.

She returned to the bottom of the ship and went into her bunkroom, lying there, thinking over everything. Soon she fell into a restless sleep. It didn't last long, however. She was woken by Emilio doing something with the engine. She sat up, groaning momentarily. The engine wasn't broken, they must be getting ready to set sail.

She stood and pulled on shorts and a shirt and stumbled out blurrily. Unlike her nephew who could survive on up to no sleep, Emmalina became thoroughly impaired unless she had several cups of caffeine to counteract the sleep deprivation.

She reached the top deck, watching for a moment as Jahel tightened the antenas onto the ship where Emmalina had been standing yesterday. Her gaze continued over everyone until she saw Kurt untying the ropes that held the ship down to the shoreline during the storm. She rolled her eyes as Lincoln walked over to him with a bandage. Jonas was sitting on the edge of the ship, looking at the water. Brielle was beside him. Emmalina watched as Clark walked over to them.

"I could use another cameraman," he said, placing it down behind Jonas. To Emmalina's surprise, it was Brielle, not Jonas who replied first.

"You try to kill him then you offer him a job? Piss off," she said, an unusual amount of vehemence in her voice. Clark raised his eyebrows.

"I was talking to the kid," he replied.

"What she said," Jonas told him, not even bothering to turn around. Clark produced a beer and handed it forward.

"And a beer," he said, smirking. Jonas finally looked at him, before rolling his eyes and taking it.

"Fuck you," he said.

"Cheers!" Clark said, before walking away from the pair.

Emmalina heard a heated discussion ensue between the Jonas and Brielle about why he took the job before she walked away. She made her way down to the editing bay, where Lincoln and his mother seemed to be watching the footage of Emmet.

"I don't know why... I just... I can't believe he'd do something like that. That..." Lincoln was saying to Tess, trailing off as he was unable to find the words. Emmalina knew exactly how he felt. She'd never thought he own brother would stoop that low. She stepped into the room quietly, watching the footage from the back as Emmet's face appeared on the video.

_"Tess. Lincoln. And Emma if she's there. I know you didn't understand why I had to come down here without you. The show and this boat are home, our family as I always wanted it to be together. It wasn't just us, it was the crew and our extended family. I mean, how many six year old kids do you know that can speak Bahasa? Lincoln, I know you didn't love it here, and that your aunt was the same some of the time."_ There was a pause in his speaking before Emmet on the video continued. _"And Tess, I... you were always so strong, but maybe you just held your tongue. I did something today I'm going to regret for the rest of my life. I left someone behind. This place is just testing your every tether to the world I thought I knew. You've made decisions you never dreamed possible. And maybe a better man could've found another way. I miss you. I love you. I made my choice, I don't expect you to forgive me. I really don't."_

The video flickered into blackness. Tess began to cry and Lincoln stood up, moving to hug his mother. Emmalina wanted to move, but she couldn't. She was just frozen there. Eventually, she walked out of the cabin, her thoughts even more complicated than ever.


	3. Secrets

"Mom, we've been looking at this map for over an hour," Lincoln said with a sigh as he leaned his back against the controls behind him.

Currently he was up in the wheelhouse of the ship with his mother, his aunt, Lena, Brielle and Jonas. Tess had been getting every ounce of information she could from Jonas. The cameraman didn't know all that much, but Tess wasn't listening when he replied with "I'm not sure" or "I don't really know". She was set on finding a path that led to where Emmet was, or somewhere close to where her husband was. She couldn't just let his uncertainty stop her from possibly finding a route to Emmet.

Brielle stood beside Jonas who was in front of the map, Tess on the other side of him. Lena was standing beside Lincoln and Emmalina was situated in a stool across from Jonas, Brielle and Tess, the map on the table in between them. The second Jonas had recovered enough from what had happened, Tess had pounced. And nothing could stop her.

"Tess, maybe you should give the boy a break," Emmalina said. Tess' blue eyes flashed with annoyance when she glanced up at her sister-in-law. She raised her hands in surrender. "Look, I want to find Emmet, too. He's my brother, so don't think I don't. But pushing Jonas until he collapsed to remember something he _may or may not know_ isn't going to gain us information any faster."

Tess' eyes flicked up to meet Emmalina's before looking back down at the map. "One more time, Jonas. Just any place that is familiar to you."

Jonas sighed as he studied the map in front of him for a second longer before placing his finger on an area of the worn paper. "If I _had_ to make a guess, he'd go there," He replied glancing at Tess as she moved slightly closer to look at where he was pointing. "This horseshoe-crescent area," Jonas added, not sure how to describe it.

"That's the Sahte Territory," Tess said as she leaned closer to the map. Jonas nodded.

"He said everything he was searching for would be there. The Source," He said, his tone implying he had no clue what he was talking about; he was simply repeating phrases and words he had heard Emmet use when talking with Russ.

"The Source?" Tess glanced up at Jonas. "Did he tell you what it was?"

"You've already asked this," Brielle pointed out, a tone of annoyance in her voice. Lincoln smiled slightly at the younger girl. She was quiet and laidback and it took a lot to get her riled up, but when she was she let you know. Tess simply glanced at the blonde girl before back at Jonas.

"Did he tell you what it was?" She asked. Jonas sighed before looking at the red-headed woman.

"Turns out he didn't share all that much while he was watching me get hanged from a tree," He replied sarcastically, and Brielle couldn't help but giggle. Jonas grinned, quite pleased the blonde found his joke funny before his face turned into one of slight seriousness when Tess narrowed her eyes at him, not amused. "Look, all I know is that he was looking for these people, people he said could show him the way."

"Well, that's the best lead we've had so far," Tess said. "If that's where Emmet was going, that's where we go and we'll find him."

Brielle glanced up at Tess at the same time Lena did. Brielle's entire posture changed. Her smiled faded off of her face from Jonas' previous joke. "Find them," She said quietly, but loud enough to be heard. She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing slightly at Tess as the older woman glanced up from the map to look at her.

"Yes, of course," Tess said as A.J. walked into the small room to film them. "Emmet and Russ and the whole crew." She offered the blonde girl a smile, but Brielle didn't return it.

"Of course," Brielle said, her tone icy.

Brielle knew Tess was looking for Emmet, and that was her main priority, but she didn't have to make it so blatantly obvious he was the only one she cared about getting back home. Brielle and Lena had their father out there, and they wanted him home just as badly as Tess wanted Emmet to come home. She knew this expedition wouldn't be happening if Dr. Cole hadn't been missing, but sometimes Brielle wished it seemed like Tess cared about finding their father just as much as she did about getting Emmet.

"We'll regroup in the morning," Tess said to everyone. "Get some sleep for now." With that, the red-headed woman turned to the steering wheel, signalling she was done talking.

Brielle glared at the back of her head before storming out of the cabin. Lena followed after her to go console her younger sister. Jonas left as well to go see if Clark needed him for anything. Lincoln looked at his mom and started to say something, but closed his mouth and thought better about it. He sighed before exiting as well to go see the girls. Emmalina stepped up beside Tess, letting silence wash over them for a moment.

"You aren't the only one grieving," Emmalina finally said. "We're all missing Emmet." She paused thinking through her words carefully. "But he's not the only one missing either. You're too wrapped up in yourself. You've become a machine, ignoring everyone else's emotions since you started searching for him. It's selfish and you're hurting people, and you don't even seem to care." Emmalina couldn't stop her mouth from moving.

"I have a family to look out for. You don't," was all Tess replied. Her annoyance was obvious. Emmalina just glared at her before turning and walking away. Sometimes she didn't know why Emmet had married Tess. She made her way to her own cabin, hoping for her own reasons that she could find Russ soon. And what she'd said wasn't entirely true- Emmalina had a family. It was just a broken one.

The next day, Emmalina climbed onto the deck. It was a beautiful day on the Amazon, a change from the murky nights they'd been having. Clark was on the warpath today, determined to get interviews from every member of the crew. Emmalina had already watched him film Lena. It had started with her playing the accordion. She'd gone on to say how much she missed her dad. She'd watched as Clark had walked around the deck to where Brielle was lying, her small form stretched out in a blue-green bikini. It enhanced the colour of her eyes. Emmalina wanted to stop him, but he was determined.

"Brielle," he stated as he approached her, the camera pointing directly at her. She shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at him.

"Clark," she said, her tone slightly wary.

"I wanted to ask you a few things about Russ," he said, repeating the same thing he'd approached Lena with this morning. Unlike Lena however, Brielle narrowed her eyes slightly and eyed him.

"Why?"

"We're just trying to get everyone's perspectives. We have more than enough on Lincoln losing his father. It's your turn now." Clearly Clark thought he was doing her a favour but Brielle looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"Nothing I say is going to show you the true person he is," Brielle stated as she sat up, leaning back against an arm behind her, the other one being used to shield the sun from her eyes. "Words don't do him justice."

"And why's that?" Clark asked.

Brielle opened her mouth to reply, but stood up instead and slipped on a see-through navy blue tank top and a pair of white shorts that stood out in contrast to the tan coloring of her skin. She hated interviews. She hated anything to do with being in front of the camera. She preferred to be working behind the scenes like her father. Working behind the scenes where you did all the work but got very little of the credit, that's where she liked to be. That's where she felt at most home. Being in front of the camera was Lena's job, it was something she had always loved, but not Brielle. Lena was always more outgoing, more adventurous than her younger sister. Brielle was more laid-back.

"I'm not doing an interview," Brielle said as she walked off away from him, carrying a pair of sandals in her hands as she went.

"Why not?" Clark asked, following her. "Come on, just a few questions, Brielle." The blonde stopped and turned around. "Just a few questions and I'll leave you alone."

Brielle contemplated his words. "You promise?"

"Few questions, and I'll leave you alone. For now," Clark said grinning a little. The blonde in front of him let out a breath before nodding her head.

"All right. Fine. Ask away," She said, shifting her weight to her other foot. Clark grinned triumphantly.

"Your sister plays the accordion," Clark began. "Because your father taught her. No special talent he taught you?"

Brielle almost rolled her eyes at the way Clark worded the question, trying to make it seem like Russ favored one of his daughters over the other. He was trying to get her sympathy from the audience that would watch this because he was trying to give her a character role she had to fill, and she wasn't going to let him make her father out to be a bad person, especially when he was anything but. She shook her head to him.

"No. Well, not an instrument," She said.

"What do you mean?" Clark pushed.

"I've always loved cameras," Brielle said. "I loved photography," She added. "I loved taking pictures. I remember when I was real little, maybe eight or nine, my dad bought me this Barbie disposable camera. It was pink and glittery, and I loved it. I took pictures with it all the time, and then it ran out."

"What happened next?"

Brielle was smiling to herself at the memory as she spoke. "The next time we were back in the States and back home, he developed my pictures. Of course, they weren't fantastic. At all. But he made them seem like they were the most amazing thing he's seen." She smiled. "He even framed one on our refrigerator that I had taken of him and Emmet. They were just talking, and I had snapped a picture; I think I was pretending to be a spy that day."

"What made you love photography?" Clark asked her.

"It was something I could do with him..." Brielle said shrugging as she came out of the memory and back to reality. "Videography was never my thing, it was always his. But, he knew a lot about cameras and I loved just sitting and listening to him teach me about them." Her hand went to her necklace to twirl around her finger, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Clark.

"Whenever you speak of your father, you play with your necklace. Any significance?" He asked her.

"He bought it for me," Brielle said simply, and Clark for once didn't push that subject, probably finding it not as interesting as other topics he could talk about.

"What's special about your dad?"

"He's my dad," She said, the same words Lena had said earlier. "Everything about him is special... there isn't just _one_ thing."

"What do you love most about your dad?"

She didn't hesitate or have to take time to think like Lena had. She answered immediately to the question. "He never was disappointed in me. I could never do something that he would be ashamed of. He was always proud of me," She said, her eyes watering slightly as she starting to tear up. "He was always there when I needed to talk. Lena and I are six years apart so we weren't always close, and sometimes I felt like I was living in her shadow because she was so open and forward with the cameras... but my dad always made me feel special... no matter what."

"Can you think of a specific time?" Clark asked her.

"To me living in Lena's shadow? No. But I remember after every day, my dad and I would lie on the deck of the _Magus_ and gaze up at the stars." She played with her necklace again. "Sometimes Lena would join us and other times she'd hang out with Lincoln instead. We would just talk about... everything."

"How do you feel about this expedition?" He asked.

Brielle paused for a moment and licked her lips in a nervous habit. "I'm thankful," She finally said. "If it weren't for Emmet Cole and his producers, we wouldn't be out here looking for any of the crew," She said, but glanced down. "But Emmet's not the only person missing..."

Clark started to ask another question, but Brielle continued. "Sometimes..." Her gaze drifted up to the wheelhouse of the ship before back to the camera. "I feel like only Lena and I are looking for him... I feel like, I mean... the whole world is missing Emmet. He's a famous explorer. Everyone wants him back so they can have their show again. No one knows about my dad, he's just a cameraman..."

She paused as she bit her lip trying to hold back tears. "No one knows he exists and therefore no one wants him back..." A tear rolled down her cheek, and she glanced upwards to to calm herself before looking back at Clark. "You made me cry for your ratings, and you got your interview. Are we done?" She asked, her voice quavering on the verge of crying.

Clark nodded his head as he lowered the camera before walking away just as Brielle felt another tear slide down her cheek. Through her tears, Brielle vaguely noticed Jonas walking towards her from the other side of the boat. She went to leave before she had to talk to anyone else but he caught her arm gently.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, his voice gentle. Brielle nodded before sighing.

"Just Clark... Grilling me about my dad," she admitted. Jonas nodded, leaning against the rails.

"He's an asshole," he told her, and Brielle gave a shaky laugh.

"Yeah. He is a bit." They stood beside each other in silence, the tears slowly fading off Brielle's cheeks in the hot South American sun.

"I actually heard what you were saying to Clark," Jonas told her. She looked up at him, surprised. "About your photos. Russ always used to talk about them. He actually carried one you'd taken of him." Jonas was trying to make her feel better, but his words had the opposite effect. Brielle pressed her eyes closed tightly, trying not to cry again. Jonas noticed and immediately looked apologetic.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" he said, before reaching out and brushing off a tear that splashed onto her cheek. "I'm sorry," he repeated, their eyes locked as his hand stayed on her cheek for a moment.

"I... I could show you some time," Brielle said shyly. "Some of the photos I've taken." Jonas smiled.

"I'd like that," he said. He paused, as though he was about to continue but before he could, Lena was standing behind him.

"There you are!" she said as she grabbed his arm. "Tess wants you to confirm something for her," Lena told him, rolling her eyes.

"Okay," Jonas replied, frowning slightly as Lena started off again.

He took two steps to follow her before turning back to Brielle. To him, she looked very small and vulnerable. He knew most people thought Lena burned brighter, Brielle included. But looking at her, Jonas could see that she didn't burn, she glowed with her own light, her own talent. Brielle was her own person and she seemed happy that Jonas knew this. That finally someone was noticing her over her older sister. He smiled at Brielle once before allowing Lena to pull him off to where Tess was. Brielle watched him leave before turning and disappearing below deck.

Emmalina sighed as she watched the blonde girl go before turning herself only to run into Kurt. "Jeez!" She snapped, jumping back a little from her surprise at finding him there. "You cannot sneak up on a person!"

"My apologies," Kurt said with a nod of his head, but the slight smirk on his face said he was anything but sorry.

"Can I help you with something?" Emmalina asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You seem very interested in the little blonde one," Kurt began. "My curiosity has been piqued. Why do you take interest in her?"

Emmalina narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"In example. When Quietly went to interview her, you almost stopped him, did you not?" He asked. Emmalina had started to protest and say he was wrong, but stopped herself. Why was Kurt watching her and noticing what she did? When she did not argue he continued on. "You wanted to stop him from talking with Brielle, but not Lena? Why is that?"

"Brielle's... more delicate than her sister," Emmalina said slowly, thinking of a right way to describe Brielle. "She's more quiet than Lena."

"Is that the only reason?" Kurt asked. When Emmalina said nothing, he continued. "I think there's more to this story than you are telling."

"I think you should stop paying attention to me and do your job," Emmalina countered. "Watching what I do and how I act is not what you were paid to do."

"No, it is not what I was paid to do, but watching the members of this crew, and studying them is part of keeping you all safe. I _am_ doing my job."

Emmalina had no reply to this, but she didn't like how closely the German seemed to be following her.

"Just keep away from me," she said. She turned to walk off but Kurt placed a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't threatening but it made Emmalina realise how muscled the man was.

"Well, then it's not my fault if you get into trouble and I can't save you, is it." Emmalina stared at him.

"Are you threatening me?" she asked, keeping her voice neutral. Kurt laughed, a harsh deep sound.

"Not in the slightest." Emmalina couldn't figure him out. He was unreadable, his emotions, his body language.

"I..." She trailed off, glancing at the hand on her shoulder before back up to his face. She noticed his eyes for the first time. They weren't dark like she'd expected, but an almost translucent blue. She pushed his hand off her, finally getting to walk away. She could still feel his eyes on her back as she climbed up the steps to the control room.

Later that day, Emmalina found herself in the control room again. Mist swirled against the glass that enclosed the room. It was this same mist that made moving faster than a knot impossible. Also in the control room was Lena, Brielle and Tess, steering the boat. Emmalina could sense her frustration, but once again, Lena and Brielle's frustration at not finding their father took second place to Tess' frustration of not finding her husband. The red-headed woman groaned as she squinted her eyes trying to see.

"We're barely pulling a knot. Finally know where we're going and we're never gonna get there," Tess complained. After a moment, Lena picked up the speaker before handing it over to Tess without even looking at it. Tess took it from her before making an announcement for everyone on the ship to hear. _"Everyone to the deck. Someone make me some coffee."_

"We'll figure this out," Lena said. "We'll get moving again."

Tess nodded her head as she turned off the engine of the boat so it would just drift along while she went to talk with the rest of the crew. She stepped away from the controls before making her way down onto the main portion of the deck, the other three in the room following after her. They all assembled on the deck where everyone else was gathering. There were quiet murmurs while they waited, but no one really said anything. After a little bit, Brielle noticed someone move to stand by her and saw Jonas, camera on his shoulder. She smiled up at him and he returned it.

"Now visibility's terrible," Tess began. Everyone quieted down and turned their attention on to her as she spoke. "So, I need everyone on watch so we can get back up to speed."

"Uh," Clark began. "Some of us have work to do," He pointed out.

Tess narrowed her eyes at him as she cocked her head and retorted, "Well, we can't keep moving, you can't keep filming and then you'll be outta work, Clark." The Brit rolled his eyes in annoyance, but let her have her way. "Regular intervals, full lookout, shoreline rocks, sleep rotations every three hours, everyone pitches in, that means you too, camera." She added the last part looking to Jonas who was filming.

"Marvellous," Clark said rolling his eyes as everyone disbanded to go do their jobs they were assigned.

Jonas picked the camera up off of his shoulders and turned it to face him. "I should've stayed in the tree," He said jokingly before placing it back on his shoulders as Brielle giggled beside him at his comment.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," The blonde said teasingly to him. "I mean, there are plenty of trees around us. And we are moving slowly enough for you to pick one and just get stuck."

"That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you," Jonas replied sarcastically. Brielle giggled again.

"Hey, we'll even let you pick the tree this time instead of the jungle picking one for you," She replied with a grin.

"Brielle, can you cover the starboard side?" Tess asked as she made her way back up to the control room.

Brielle rolled her eyes at Jonas before making her way over to where Tess had told her to go. The time passed slowly as everyone kept a lookout, but gradually, the boat picked up speed. Clark walked around the ship with a small handheld torch, the light darting over the bank. On the opposite side, a powerful spotlight with a light that appeared blue swept the bank. Emmalina made her way over to it, to discover Kurt manning it. She went to leave, not wanting another run in with him but he'd heard her approach.

"It's hard to avoid people on a boat, is it not?" Emmalina couldn't see his face in the dark but she knew he was smirking, as always. She could hear it in his voice.

"If there was someone I didn't want to be around, I'd find a way," she retorted, her voice icy. The light slowly travelled along the bank, casting an eerie glow over the green trees.

"If you do, let me know. If not, you should probably do as your... captain instructed." The way he paused on the word captain made Emmalina think that he knew she didn't like Tess.

"Maybe I will," she said, before turning and walking off. Before she got very far, she saw Lincoln walk up the steps to the control room.

"Rock ahead, twenty metres, port side," he called, loud enough for Tess to hear. In the control room, she spun the wheel and the _Magus_ slowly moved out of the path of the rock. She watched as her nephew moved down off the steps and back over to the side of the ship, where most people were.

Meanwhile, Brielle was leaning against a small alcove. She had a clear view of the bank as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep warm. Footsteps made her glance up and she couldn't help but smile when she saw it was Jonas. During the short time he'd been on the ship, she'd grown to like him. She liked his company and she liked how he treated her.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," Jonas replied before grasping the metal railings that surrounded the boat.

"Where's your right arm?" Brielle joked, referring to his camera and how he wasn't carrying it. Jonas sighed.

"It's up there," he said, nodding his head at the upper part of the _Magus_. "You know, as much as I love this job... it's hard. You're always behind the camera, always-"

"Always heard but never seen?" Brielle couldn't stop herself from cutting across him. Jonas nodded slowly, meeting her gaze.

"Your dad's pretty much my hero." There was a long silence between them before JOnas spoke again, but it was comfortable. "He's the best camera man I've ever seen. He taught me to film underwater and built me this absolutely genius housing." Jonas flashed her a cheeky grin. "Cheated at poker."

"You're telling me, his daughter, this," Brielle replied, smiling back. "I learnt the tricks of the trade off him." She shivered a bit as a slight wind blew off the water and Jonas noticed.

"You cold?" he asked. Brielle shook her head.

"Not really-y," she replied, her teeth chattering slightly on the last word. Jonas laughed at her and reached out. He placed his hand against her cheek for the second time that day, but for a completely different reason. His hand was cold from resting on the cool metal railings, and Brielle squealed, pulling away and laughing.

The laugh made Lincoln glance across from the other side of the boat. Once he'd made sure that no one was in actual danger, he went back to watching the side. At that moment, Jahel walked up to Lincoln holding two cups of coffee. She offered one to him, but he shook his head. She held it out again.

"_Cafe?_" She asked him.

"No, I've had plenty. Thank you. _No, gracias._" Lincoln shook his head, and Jahel pulled the cup away from him.

"I have... plenty," Jahel said, trying to repeat the words Lincoln had said. Lincoln glanced at her in surprise before nodding.

"_Muy bien._"

"_Puedo repetir las cosas. No vocabulario para entender. Debo aprender_," Jahel said telling him that she can repeat things in English that others said, but that she didn't always understand it because she didn't have the vocabulary. She also added that she should probably learn how to speak English.

Lincoln laughed. "_Estamos en América del Sur._"

"_Sí. Estamos en un barco. Todos, excepto mi padre habla Inglés_," Jahel said. While it was true they were on a boat, everyone on the boat spoke English except for her father who spoke English and Spanish.

"_Yo hablo español_," Lincoln told her, and Jahel glanced at him with a blank expression. While Lincoln could speak Spanish, it wasn't the best Spanish she had ever heard in her life. Lincoln sighed, knowing what Jahel's look had meant. He glanced over at Jonas and Brielle once again when laughter reached his ear. "Jonas, keep focused. If we hit something it's on you."

Jonas nodded as he took a step away from Brielle, looking at Lincoln. "Yes sir, admiral, sir." He fake saluted Lincoln before walking away to the other side of the ship. Lincoln rolled his eyes as Jonas walked away, before turning to look back. He raised his eyebrows as he met Jahel's eyes intensely.

"What?" he asked, cocking his head.

"_Nada. Yo no tengo que hablar Inglés para comprender todo." _Lincoln followed her gaze back to Jonas. The other boy had since lent over the railing, looking out across the river. Lena was standing a little bit away from him, and she glanced over her shoulder. Lincoln opened his mouth to call out to her, but before he could, a cry went up.

"Hey! I see something!" The words were accented in German and Lincoln turned to see Kurt looking out over the water, similar to how Jonas was. Jonas nodded, squinting, calling out to Lena, Jahel and Lincoln as he walked over. Brielle was standing near to Kurt, her head tilted in confusion.

"Hey guys, there's something out there," he said, before gesturing to A.J. who was filming. "Come this way."

As AJ moved around to film what it was Jonas was pointing at, everyone, who wasn't already on deck, began to make their way out into the open night. Emmalina pointed at something she spotted a little ways up ahead on the river. It was another circular light, very similar to the spotlight Kurt was pointing at the trees, but it was smaller. Since it was smaller, Emmalina assumed it had to be quite a distance away. She moved closer towards the front of the ship, her eyes squinted through the darkness to try to see better, but it wasn't helping.

Meanwhile, Clark had grabbed Jonas and handed me a camera, telling him to film from up in the wheelhouse with him and Tess. Everyone seemed to be on edge as the light grew bigger in the distance, the ship heading straight towards the _Magus_. Tess peered out of the glass, trying to see where to move the ship. As the other came towards them, she had no where to go but pull the _Magus_ over to the side of the river, careful not to get in the shallow parts so the ship wouldn't get stuck in the sand.

"Why aren't they stopping?" Brielle asked from beside Jonas, figuring the wheelhouse would be a helpful place for her to be because there were too many people already on the deck. She would try to be helpful to Tess.

"Don't they see us?" Jonas asked.

"What is... where are we going?" Clark asked.

"I don't know..." Jonas replied to the rhetorical question. "It looks like a ship."

"Tess! They're coming straight for us!" Lena shouted up from the deck as she began to wave her arms over her head, trying to make movement for the ship to see.

Tess pressed a button on the controls for the horn on the ship, which blared out of the speakers a second later. But the light kept coming. Kurt climbed up onto the stairs that led to the wheelhouse, spotlight in hand, and shined it towards the ship that was coming towards them, hoping the bright light might let them know something else was in their way. The horn blared again when Tess pressed the button, but nothing worked. The ship still kept its path towards the _Magus_.

"Hello!" Lena shouted as she continued to wave her arms over her head.

"You rolling?" Clark asked Jonas who nodded his head.

Lena started jumping up on the deck, her arms still waving, while Lincoln waved a flashlight over his head. But nothing was working. Emmalina glanced at a crate near the wall of the ship and crouched down before opening it and pulled out a flare. She struck it against the side of the crate, and the stick ignited, a bright red flame coming out of the top of it. She stood beside her nephew and waved the red flame over her head, hoping that would get the ship's attention. But still it kept coming.

"They're gonna hit us..." Lincoln said, quietly his arms lowering to his side.

"They're gonna hit us!" Lena repeated, her voice louder and more panicked. "Hello!"

"Cut the engine, Tess!" Emmalina shouted up to her sister-in-law.

Lincoln moved over the side of the ship as Tess did as Emmalina said, the boat slowing from the pace it had been moving previously. The blonde male peered over the edge of the ship to see how deep the waters were, which wasn't much. If they moved any further, they'd be stranded in the sand. He glanced up again at the ship that was almost directly upon them. Tess turned the wheel and moved the ship more to the side, trying her best to avoid a collision. But one happened anyway. The ship hit the side of the _Magus_, scraping all along the side and throwing everyone off balance and causing the _Magus_ to move further into shallow ground, embedding the ship in the sand.

"Is everyone okay?" Lincoln called out once the jolt of the collision was over. Various answers could be heard, but no one was injured too badly, just shaken up.

Brielle caught her balance, her hand holding onto the edge of one of the tables while Jonas had an arm around her to help steady her as well, his other arm held tightly around the camera so as not to break that and piss Clark off. The two steadied themselves and watched as those down below moved over to the edge of the ship, probably to see if anyone from the other ship was coming out on deck, but when they got there... there was no ship. Brielle's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the empty space of river.

"How...?"

"The hell'd it go?" She heard Lincoln asked.

"It just disappeared," Lena said quietly as Lincoln walked over to the other edge to see just how stuck they were, which was pretty stuck. They weren't going anywhere for a while.

"How does a ship like that just disappear?" Brielle asked, glancing at Jonas then Tess then Clark, but no one had an answer.

Tess sighed before stepping back from the controls and heading down onto the deck to talk with everyone and see how much damage they had. Clark followed after her immediately. Jonas sighed before following as well and Brielle followed him. Everyone had gathered into a small circle on the deck, like they had before when Tess had given out orders on watching through the fog. No one could believe that a ship that had hit them could have just disappeared. It didn't seem possible or logical at that.

"Maybe it just sped off," Lena suggested, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for something that wasn't reasonable.

"That quick?" Lincoln asked, shaking his head. "No way. We'd see it behind us," He said, nodding his head in the direction that ship would be. "Let's face it. We've seen stranger things in the past few days." No one could argue with him there.

"Can we move off the sand?" Tess asked Lincoln who shook his head, but before he could explain why, Emilio walked up onto the deck.

"The transmissions no good."

"So patch it up," Tess replied instantly. "We need to be moving by morning." Emilio shook his head and went to speak again but before he could, Jahel ran up onto the deck.

_"Papá, los engranajes se eliminan en la transmisión. Necesitamos una nueva pareja y la clave para el eje de la hélice,"_ she said rapidly. Emmalina followed some of what she said. Something had happened with the gears and they needed a new key. She didn't know what that was but it didn't sound good.

"What she saying?" Clark asked as he turned the camera onto Jahel. Emilio was talking to her, asking how bad the damage was.

"It is the kind of damage we cannot just... patch. We need parts," he told them.

"We can't exactly go to the store and pick up a new coupler out here, can we Emilio?" Tess snapped sarcastically at the big Spanish man.

"We can't stop now, we have to keep moving," Lena added, backing up Tess's point. "We have to fix it." Brielle felt a stab of annoyance at her sister go through her. She wanted to keep moving, to get closer to her father just as much as she did but sometimes, Lena didn't understand people. She didn't understand that sometimes, people tried their best and couldn't do anymore.

"No can fix," Jahel said. _"Hasta que tengamos nuevas partes._ _Esto está roto._" No one asked what Jahel meant this time. There was a long drawn out silence before AJ spoke.

"Hang on, so we're stranded," he said woodenly. "In the middle of the bloody Amazon."

"It looks like it," Emmalina said reluctantly. Tess stared at her crew for a moment before storming away, pulling herself up the ladder and into the control room. She grabbed the walkie-talkie. Everyone watched her silhouette move from down on the lower deck, watching her lips move as she called for mayday. There was no response.

"We're just going to have to stick here until we figure a way we can sort this out," Lincoln said sensibly. Everyone nodded before dissipating. Brielle was left standing on the deck with nothing to do. It happened all the time. She was small and she was quiet so in most people's eyes, that meant she could do nothing. She glanced at her watch and realised that it was almost 5:00AM. She knew nothing more could be done than to work on the transmission and put out distress calls in the hope someone would pick it up. Tiredly, she made her way down to her cabin.

In the meanwhile, Emmalina joined Tess in the wheelhouse. Lena and Lincoln were also there. Lena was looking over some notes and a map and Lincoln was sitting on the bench, watching her. It was obvious to Emmalina that her nephew liked the elder blonde. Most people gravitated towards her. Lena, Emmet, Tess... they all had the same sort of personality. That's why everyone loved them. The sound of Tess' voice through the walkie-talkie formed a sort of repeitive pattern in her head and she just sat there, not asleep but not awake either. At around 5:40AM, Lena glanced up at Tess.

"Tess, why don't you let me take a look for a while?" she asked, breaking Emmalina out of her reverie. Tess shook her head, her hand gripping the walkie-talkie tightly.

"It's okay. I got this. Go get some sleep," she said without turning away from the wheel. Lena hesitated before walking out of the room. Emmalina stayed, listening to her sister-in-law put out repeat after repeat.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. All stations. This is the _magus_. We've run aground. Transmission is damaged. Requesting a tow. Need immediate assistance. Over. Mayday, mayday, mayday..."

Brielle was awoken by the sound of voices up on the deck and a low hum of a motor on the water just outside. She quickly stood and pulled on some clothes, squinting as she walked into the sunlight. She'd left her watch in her room so she had no way of telling what time it was as she walked over to the edge of the ship. Clark and AJ were out on the on the Zodiacs, explaining the hum of a motor. They were filming the damage around the ship. Brielle leant over the side to try and get a better look and Clark said exactly what she was thinking.

"She looks like a bloody disaster," said Clark with a groan. "I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon."


End file.
